The NFL will be announcing compensatory draft picks today and the Redskins are not likely to receive any. This is despite the fact that they lost LaRon Landry as an unrestricted free agent to the Jets.

No, this is not due to more of Roger Goodell, John Mara, and the rest of the powers that be in the NFL conspiring against the Redskins again. It is simply because of the way the NFL’s formula works.

Although the exactly formula is a secret (if you want some of the nitty-gritty details check out this great post), one of the known elements is that each player signed cancels out a pick a team may get for losing a player. So while the Redskins lost Landry they signed free agent wide receivers Pierre Garçon and Josh Morgan. They cancel out the departure of Landry.

So while the Redskins won’t be on the list of those awarded picks today, is a chance that they will get a compensatory pick a year from now due to the loss of Lorenzo Alexander to the Cardinals. They could sign some free agents and still get a comp pick as long as the free agents were released by their former teams. Only players who played out their contracts count in the compensatory pick formula.